Dead Parrot - Monty Python Scripts Monty Python Scripts A customer enters a pet shop. Mr. Praline: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint. (The owner does not respond.) Mr. Praline: 'Ello, Miss? Owner: What do you mean "miss"? Mr. Praline: (pause)I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint! Owner: We're closin' for lunch. Mr. Praline: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique. Owner: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it? Mr. Praline: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it! Owner: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting. Mr. Praline: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now. Owner: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'!

Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage! Mr. Praline: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead. Owner: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting! Mr. Praline: All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up! (shouting at the cage) 'Ello, Mister Polly Parrot! I've got a lovely fresh cuttle fish for you if you show... (owner hits the cage) Mr. Praline: No, he didn't, that was you hitting the cage! Owner: I never!! Mr. Praline: Yes, you did! Owner: I never, never did anything... Mr. Praline: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) 'ELLO POLLY!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call! (Takes parrot out of the cage and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.) Mr. Praline: Now that's what I call a dead parrot. Owner: No, no.....No, 'e's stunned! Mr.

Praline: STUNNED?!? Owner: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Norwegian Blues stun easily, major. Mr. Praline: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not 'alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein' tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk. Owner: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords. Mr. Praline: PININ' for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got 'im home? Owner: The Norwegian Blue prefers keepin' on it's back! Remarkable bird, id'nit, squire? Lovely plumage! Mr. Praline: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there.

(pause) Owner: Well, o'course it was nailed there! If I hadn't nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent 'em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee! Mr. Praline: "VOOM"?!? Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised! Owner: No no! 'E's pining! Mr. Praline: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!! (pause) Owner: Well, I'd better replace it, then.

(he takes a quick peek behind the counter) Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of parrots. Mr. Praline: I see. I see, I get the picture. Owner: (pause) I got a slug. (pause) Mr. Praline: Pray, does it talk? Owner: Nnnnot really. Mr. Praline: WELL IT'S HARDLY A BLOODY REPLACEMENT, IS IT?!!???!!? Owner: N-no, I guess not. (gets ashamed, looks at his feet) Mr. Praline: Well. Mr. Praline: (sweet as sugar) Pray, does it talk? Owner: Nnnnot really. Mr. Praline: WELL IT'S HARDLY A BLOODY REPLACEMENT, IS IT?!!???!!? Owner: Look, if you go to my brother's pet shop in Bolton, he'll replace the parrot for you. Mr. Praline: Bolton, eh? Very well. (The customer leaves.) (The customer enters the same pet shop. The owner is putting on a false moustache.) Mr.

Praline: This is Bolton, is it? Owner: (with a fake mustache) No, it's Ipswitch. Mr. Praline: (looking at the camera) That's inter-city rail for you. (Mr. Praine goes to the train station. He addresses a man standing behind a desk marked "Complaints".) Mr. Praline: I wish to complain, British-Railways Person. Attendant: I DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS JOB, YOU KNOW!!! Mr. Praline: I beg your pardon...? Attendant: I'm a qualified brain surgeon! I only do this job because I like being my own boss! Mr. Praline: Excuse me, this is irrelevant, isn't it? Attendant: Yeah, well it's not easy to pad these python files out to 150 lines, you know. Mr. Praline: Well, I wish to complain. I got on the Bolton train and found myself deposited here in Ipswitch. Attendant: No, this is Bolton. Mr. Praline: (to the camera) The pet shop man's brother was lying!! Attendant: Can't blame British Rail for that. Mr.

Praline: In that case, I shall return to the pet shop! He does. Mr. Praline: I understand this IS Bolton. Owner: (still with the fake mustache) Yes? Mr. Praline: You told me it was Ipswitch! Owner: ...It was a pun. Mr. Praline: (pause) A PUN?!? Owner: No, no...not a pun...What's that thing that spells the same backwards as forwards? Mr. Praline: (Long pause) A palindrome...? Owner: Yeah, that's it! Mr. Praline: It's not a palindrome! The palindrome of "Bolton" would be "Notlob"!! It don't work!! Owner: Well, what do you want? Mr. Praline: I'm not prepared to pursue my line of inquiry any longer as I think this is getting too silly! Sergeant-Major: Quite agree, quite agree, too silly, far too silly... (takes customer by the arm) Come on, you, you've got to go do another sketch now! Come on...

(he walks off stage left, followed by the director and cameramen, leaving the owner alone on the set) Owner: (to the audience) Well! I never wanted to do this in the first place. I wanted to be... a lumberjack! (he takes off his white lab coat to reveal a checkered shirt and suspenders under it) Floating down the mighty rivers of British Columbia! With my best girl by my side!... Sketch continues into the Lumberjack Song. Monty Python - Dead Parrot - YouTube Monty Python - Dead Parrot Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Feb 14, 2007 from Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 - Episode 08 The world famous Dead Parrot sketch, here, in it's entirety! I'm slowly uploading the entire Flying Circus series... Got any requests? Category Jokes - Monty Python - Dead Parrot Sketch A customer enters a pet shop.

Customer: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint. (The owner does not respond.) C: 'Ello, Miss? Owner: What do you mean "miss"? C: I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint! O: We're closin' for lunch. C: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique. O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it? C: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it! O: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting. C: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now. O: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage! C: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead. O: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting!

C: All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up! (shouting at the cage) 'Ello, Mister Polly Parrot! I've got a lovely fresh cuttle fish for you if you show...(owner hits the cage) O: There, he moved! C: No, he didn't, that was you hitting the cage! O: I never!! O: I never, never did anything... C: (yelling and hitting the cage repeatedly) 'ELLO POLLY!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call! (Takes parrot out of the cage and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.) C: Now that's what I call a dead parrot. O: No, no.....No, 'e's stunned! C: STUNNED?!? O: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Norwegian Blues stun easily, major. C: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this.

That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not 'alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein' tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk. O: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for the fjords. C: PININ' for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got 'im home? O: The Norwegian Blue prefers kippin' on it's back! Remarkable bird, id'nit, squire? Lovely plumage! C: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there. (pause) O: Well, o'course it was nailed there! If I hadn't nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent 'em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee! C: "VOOM"?!?

Mate, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised! O: No no! 'E's pining! C: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!! O: Well, I'd better replace it, then. (he takes a quick peek behind the counter) O: Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of parrots. C: I see. I see, I get the picture. O: I got a slug. (pause) C: (sweet as sugar) Pray, does it talk?

O: Nnnnot really. C: WELL IT'S HARDLY A BLOODY REPLACEMENT, IS IT?!!???!!? O: Look, if you go to my brother's pet shop in Bolton, he'll replace the parrot for you. C: Bolton, eh? Very well. The customer leaves. The customer enters the same pet shop. The owner is putting on a false moustache. C: This is Bolton, is it? O: (with a fake mustache) No, it's Ipswitch. C: (looking at the camera) That's inter-city rail for you. The customer goes to the train station. He addresses a man standing behind a desk marked "Complaints". C: I wish to complain, British-Railways Person. Attendant: I DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS JOB, YOU KNOW!!! C: I beg your pardon...? A: I'm a qualified brain surgeon! I only do this job because I like being my own boss! C: Excuse me, this is irrelevant, isn't it? A: Yeah, well it's not easy to pad these python files out to 200 lines, you know. C: Well, I wish to complain.

I got on the Bolton train and found myself deposited here in Ipswitch. A: No, this is Bolton. C: (to the camera) The pet shop man's brother was lying!! A: Can't blame British Rail for that. C: In that case, I shall return to the pet shop! He does. C: I understand this IS Bolton. O: (still with the fake mustache) Yes? C: You told me it was Ipswitch! O: ...It was a pun. C: (pause) A PUN?!? O: No, no...not a pun...What's that thing that spells the same backwards as forwards? C: (Long pause) A palindrome...? O: Yeah, that's it! C: It's not a palindrome! The palindrome of "Bolton" would be "Notlob"!! It don't work!! O: Well, what do you want? C: I'm not prepared to pursue my line of inquiry any longer as I think this is getting too silly! Sergeant-Major: Quite agree, quite agree, too silly, far too silly...

Dead Parrot | Monty Python Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia File:PalinChapmanCarSalesman.jpg At Graham Chapman 's memorial service, Cleese began his eulogy by stating that Graham Chapman was no more, that he had ceased to be, that he had expired and gone on to meet his maker, and so on. Cleese went on to justify his eulogy by claiming that Chapman would never have forgiven him if he had not delivered it exactly as he did. Near the end he also called him an "ex-Chapman". The same lines from the skit are frequently used to describe anything which the speaker wishes to describe as defunct or no longer viable. The term "Dead Parrot" is sometimes used in this context too, and also specifically applies to a controversial joint policy document which the Liberal Party and Social Democrats issued in 1988 in the process of their merger into the Social and Liberal Democratic Party .

Shortly before her downfall as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher described this party in her deadpan 'comedy' voice, saying "this is a dead parrot, it has ceased to be." The loss of the Eastbourne parliamentary seat at a by-election to the Liberal Democrats shortly afterward was cause for David Steel , its leader at the time to say "it looks like this dead parrot gave her a good pecking!". The emblem of the Liberal Democrats is a flying yellow bird. Thatcher's comment was not wholly original, as three years previously Spitting Image had run a take-off of the Dead Parrot Sketch with David Owen , then leader of the SDP, in the role of Mr. Praline, Owen's predecessor Roy Jenkins as the shopkeeper, and the SDP ("lovely policies") standing in for the parrot itself. In John Cleese's duet act with his daughter in Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot , he did a Californian version of the Dead Parrot sketch, replacing the parrot with a trophy wife .

Another British television comedy Not The Nine O'Clock News referred to the Parrot Sketch in their sketch about "Python Worshippers": Bishop: In the words of John Cleese, whenever two or three are gathered together in one place, then they shall perform the Parrot Sketch. Interviewer: It is an ex-parrot. Alexander Walker & Bishop (in unison): It has ceased to be. They also performed another sketch called "Not the Parrot Sketch". Quest for Glory II features a "Blue Parrot Inn" in Raseir. There is a deceased blue parrot hanging upside down from its perch inside the inn. Quest for Glory V also features a "Dead Parrot Inn" in Silmaria. When Michael Palin and John Cleese made surprise appearances on the season 22 episode of Saturday Night Live (hosted by Kevin Spacey with musical guest Beck ), they recreated the Parrot Sketch. A short South Park skit, created specially for the BBC 's Python Night, paid homage to the Parrot Sketch. Cartman tries to explain to Kyle , the shopkeeper, that Kenny is dead, borrowing nearly all of the dialogue from the Parrot sketch.

An inside joke comes from the fact that the character Kenny dies nearly every episode and strangely is alive the next episode. Directly after the sketch, Trey Parker and Matt Stone discuss the opportunity of creating more Monty Python homages while letting Terry Gilliam do South Park . The two then blackmail Terry by showing his kidnapped mother. A Stargate SG-1 episode, " Into the Fire " includes a short scene where Col. O'Neill , after killing Hathor , tries to convince her followers that she's an "ex-goddess," saying, "She's gone. She is no more. She's… well, let's face it, she's a former queen." The sketch was also parodied in an episode of EastEnders , where Jim Branning took his dead bird back to the pet shop. Wherein the two shop assistants go about recreating the sketch, much to Jim Branning's bemusement. Also in 2001, the Australian sketch show The Micallef Pogram [sic] included a brief parody at the beginning of its last episode. The reversal here was that the bird was alive, with the Mr Praline-type character soon realising his error.

Later the host complained that the anorak and type of bird were wrong as well. Jerry Fodor , a philosopher known for his extensive use of jokes in his writings, describes a theory on concepts in his brief essay Having Concepts: a Brief Refutation of the Twentieth Century rhetorically saying "But this parrot too is pretty certainly dead". On his 2005 tour of New Zealand , John Cleese recreated the Parrot Sketch, substituting a dead sheep for the parrot. The British comedy programme The Office , written by and starring Ricky Gervais, also contains a brief reference to the dead parrot sketch. David Brent's (played by Ricky Gervais) and Chris Finch's quiz team are named the Dead Parrots and they repeat the line: "it rests in peace, if you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!" when introduced, to which the quiz-master, Gareth, laughs and simply says "Monty Python" while being the only one apart from Brent and Finch who looks amused.

On Jasper Carrot 's 24 Carrot Gold Tour (where the audience voted for the material in the show) he opened with the joke: "Someone from Newark wanted the dead parrot sketch. Newark, the only city in England that's an anagram of Wanker." The Neko Desktop Accessory for Macintosh System 7 allowed the mouse to be configured as a blue bird, which was claimed to be a "Norwegian Blue Parrot." There's a brief mention of the Norwegian Blue on page 245 of Jasper Fforde's book The Big Over Easy (Mary Mary and Lord Spongg admire it for its "beautiful plumage"). In the classic computer game Colossal Cave Adventure , a small bird is in evidence at one point in the game. When the player attempts to FEED BIRD, the program responds with "The bird is not hungry (it's just pining for the fjords)" -- an obvious early reference to the Dead Parrot Sketch.

In the MUD Walraven , if one attempts a combat action on a corpse, the system reply is "This is an ex-parrot!" In John Cleese's appearance on The Muppet Show , he plays a traditional pirate in a Pigs in Space segment. When the parrot on his shoulder nags him, he threatens it: "Do you want to become an ex-parrot?" A list of different breeds of swamp dragon in Terry Pratchett 's The Last Hero includes "The Nothingfjord Blue. Wonderful scales, but a tendency to homesickness". The "Asian Bride Shop" sketch in Goodness Gracious Me , although starting off as a parody of the Cheese Shop sketch , ends with a customer complaining his bride is dead. The Christmas 1998 issue of David Langford 's science fiction newsletter Ansible includes a lengthy parody of the sketch by Simon Bradshaw, based on Ken Macleod 's suggestion that the upcoming technological singularity might get hit by the (then also upcoming) Millennium Bug . [1] The character of Norweigan "Weej" Blue appears in the comic Hopeless Savages .

In Monty Python's Spamalot , the line "The plumage doesn't enter into it!" is worked into another Python sketch, the conversation about swallows. Two Nigerian advance fee fraud scammers were convinced by a scambaiter to re-enact the sketch with a promise of film grant money. [2] In the movie Fierce Creatures , a zoo visitor, asked about his opinion on sea lions, answers, that they had beautiful plumage. In season six of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , three of the show's characters witness Buffy kill a detatched Mummy's hand, joking "This is an ex-Mummy's hand," and "This Mummy's hand is deceased!" The phrase also appears in the turn-based strategy game Worms . The death of a Worm in the game is accompanied by an on-screen message reading "Name is an ex-worm" with Name obviously replaced with the Worm's name. From Worms 2 onwards, a variety of phrases are used, which are chosen at random.

Following the 2-1 victory of Scotland's football team against Norway in Oslo on September 7, 2005, the Daily Record , a Scottish tabloid, parodied a famous quote of the Norwegian radio journalist Bjørge Lillelien whose well-known commentary followed Norway's 2-1 victory against England in a World Cup qualifier in Oslo on September 9, 1981. The Daily Record lists famous Norwegians (and the infamous Quisling), not forgetting to include the Norwegian Blue: King Olaf, Roald Amundsen, Liv Ullmann, Edvard Munch, Vidkun Quisling, Thor Heyerdahl, Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Grieg, Monty Python's Norwegian Blue, Morten Harket, and Anni-Frid from ABBA. An extract from the sketch was included in the 2007 AQA A Level English Language and Literature NTB5 Paper. A Sketch in the third series of That Mitchell and Webb Sound parodied this sketch by featuring a Pet Shop owner who accepted the return of a dead parrot instantly, and even offered the owner compensation. The sketch also parodied many other famous sketches.

In Xombie: Reanimated Issue #3, among the zombies at the zoo is a parrot which is noted by Dirge as a Norwegian Blue The Neopets website uses a variation of the phrase should you end up on a page which is dead or broken, reading "This is an ex-page. It has shuffled off the mortal coil." Neopets 404 error pages use a varity of catchphrases, and this is just one of them. Monty Python reunion: the five best Python sketches - Telegraph Comedy News Monty Python reunion: the five best Python sketches As news of a Monty Python reunion is announced, The Telegraph picks their five best sketches, from Dead Parrot to Gay Policeman 'It has ceased to be': Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch By Florence Waters 9:09AM GMT 19 Nov 2013 After years of potential Monty Python reunions on the cards, fans may be seeing the five surviving members back on stage in the near future. Are these the funniest sketches by the British comedy group?

The Visitors, 1969 Graham Chapman is the earnest and extremely serious Victor who has initiated a romantic sofa moment with Iris when they get a stream of loud and unlikely guests. It's a wonderful parody of the English feigning politeness in an attempt to get away with bullish indiscretion and invasiveness. John Cleese's gung-ho delivery of some clumsily frank lines ("Well how are you, you great poof?") are magnificent. 01 Oct 2006 Dead Parrot, 1969 In the most famous of all the Python sketches John Cleese returns to a pet shop to give an eloquent and sarcastic tirade at a salesman who has sold him a dead bird nailed to a perch. He goes to great lengths to demonstrate that Polly is not just "tired and shagged out after a long squawk" and uses 12 euphemisms for dead in his impressively animated but fruitless demonstration.

Gay Policeman, 1972 OPINION: No one else has the nerve to do what Python do The Milk Man, 1969 A simple, delightful joke which all hangs on suspense; no words, just Michael Palin's whistling milk man and the brillant crescendoing backing track as he eagerly climbs the stairs... Spam, 1970 A waitress and a customer in a greasy spoon cafe have an argument about the choice of food, as hungry vikings watch on. The trouble is that Spam is in just about everything on the menu (among items is "Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce, served in a Provençale manner with shallots and aubergines, garnished with truffle pate, brandy and a fried egg on top and Spam"). When the sketch was first broadcast in 1970 the end credits were changed so every member of the crew has either Spam or some other food item from the menu added to their names.

Monty Python reviews say there's life in the dead parrot yet Monty Python reviews say there's life in the dead parrot yet Danny Kemp Share View photos British comedy troupe Monty Python, (L-R) Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones pose for a photograph at the back door to the London Palladium in central London on June 30, 2014 (AFP Photo/Justin Tallis) More London (AFP) - The return of Monty Python received largely kind reviews from British newspapers on Wednesday, which said the ageing comedians' comeback kept devotees looking on the bright side even if it might not win new fans. After the first night of "Monty Python Live (Mostly)" at the O2 arena in London, the press could not resist a few digs at the advanced years of John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Terry Jones, who are now all in their seventies. While many reviewers said the troupe's first live show for more than 30 years lacked new material, most broadly agreed with the Telegraph's four-star review that the Pythons "came, they doddered, but they conquered".

In a sign of their broad appeal, there were reviews across the spectrum of British newspapers from Rupert Murdoch's bestselling tabloid The Sun to the highbrow Financial Times. The Guardian awarded the show three stars out of five and said it "isn't bad: it gives the crowd exactly what they want but relies pretty heavily on the fan love." "This live show won't make any converts. But it sends the faithful away happy." The Times also gave the show three stars and took a similar line, saying: "Will these two and a half hours convert any non-believers to the Python cause? They will not. "Yet there are plenty of laughs here -- sure, laughs of recognition rather than laughs of surprise, but genuine laughs all the same." - 'Clever and immature' - The Pythons were credited with creating a new type of comedy with their brilliantly absurd TV show "Flying Circus" in the 1960s and 1970s and in the later hit films "Life of Brian" and "Holy Grail".

Tickets for the opening night, the first of a 10-night residency, sold out within 44 seconds and the 14,000-strong crowd applauded favourite sketches and joined a mass sing-along at the end to the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." But several papers mentioned the long musical and dance numbers that kept the five surviving Pythons -- Graham Chapman died of cancer in 1990 -- off stage for a substantial part of the show. The Independent had the harshest review, giving it two stars out of five for a "desperately lazy production." The Financial Times awarded the show three stars, saying: "This show is a very smart piece of work.

It seems to have been put together to maximise the impression of value for money while minimising the quintet's amount of stage performance." The Daily Mail also gave it three stars, saying that "quite often, they looked and sounded like a dodgy tribute band." "But the show finally reached something worthy of the hype and the high prices (some tickets on the black market were going for close to Â£200) when they gave us such old favourites as the Spam sketch, the dead parrot sketch and best of all 'I Want An Argument," it added. Some audience members could be seen crying with laughter as Palin and Cleese performed their legendary dead parrot sketch, in which Cleese tries to return the bird to the pet shop insisting that it "is no more". Several papers, however, drew attention to Cleese's very croaky voice -- and his large belly.

The Express gave five out of five and said that the "the comedy timing is still there", but it pointed out that "rampant homophobia" could still be detected in some sketches In The Sun, British comedian Russell Kane reviewed the show, saying it was "both clever and immature, just like the Pythons back in the day." Reblog Dead Parrot sketch - iSnare Free Encyclopedia Dead Parrot sketch John Cleese (right) attempts to return his dead Norwegian Blue parrot to Michael Palin The "Dead Parrot Sketch", alternatively and originally known as the "Pet Shop Sketch" or "Parrot Sketch", is a sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus . It was written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman and initially performed in the show's first series, in the eighth episode ("Full Frontal Nudity", which first aired 7 December 1969). [1] The sketch portrays a conflict between disgruntled customer Mr Praline (played by Cleese) and a shopkeeper ( Michael Palin ), who hold contradictory positions on the vital state of a "Norwegian Blue" parrot. It pokes fun at the many euphemisms for death used in British culture .

The "Dead Parrot" sketch was inspired by a "Car Salesman" sketch that Palin and Chapman had done in How to Irritate People . In it, Palin played a car salesman who repeatedly refused to admit that there was anything wrong with his customer's (Chapman) car, even as it fell apart in front of him. That sketch was based on an actual incident between Palin and a car salesman. [2] In Monty Python Live at Aspen , Palin said that this salesman "had an excuse for everything". John Cleese said on the same show that he and Chapman "believed that there was something very funny there, if we could find the right context for it". In early drafts of what would become the Dead Parrot Sketch, the frustrated customer was trying to return a faulty toaster to a shop. Chapman realised that it needed to be "madder", and came up with the parrot idea. [3] [ dead link ] Over the years, Cleese and Palin have done many versions of the "Dead Parrot" sketch for various television shows, record albums, and live performances.

6 External links Plot John Cleese enters the pet shop to register a complaint about the dead Norwegian Blue parrot just as the shopkeeper is preparing to close the establishment for lunch. Despite being told that the bird is deceased and that it had been nailed to its perch, the proprietor insists that it is "pining for the fjords " or simply "stunned". [5] As the exasperated Cleese attempts to wake up the parrot, the shopkeeper tries to make the bird move by hitting the cage, and Cleese erupts into a rage after banging "Polly Parrot" on the counter. After listing off several euphemisms for death ("is no more", "has ceased to be", "bereft of life, it rests in peace", and "this is an ex-parrot") he is told to go to the pet shop run by the shopkeeper's brother in Bolton for a refund. That proves difficult, however, as the proprietor of that store (who is really the shopkeeper, save for a fake moustache) claims this is Ipswich , whereas the railway station attendant ( Terry Jones ) claims he is in fact in Bolton after all.

[5] Confronting the shopkeeper's "brother" for lying, the shopkeeper claims he was playing a prank on Cleese by sending him to Ipswich, which was a palindrome for Bolton; Cleese points out that the shopkeeper was wrong because a palindrome for Bolton would have been "Notlob". Just as Cleese has decided that "this is getting too silly", Graham Chapman's no-nonsense Colonel bursts in and orders the sketch stopped. [5] Variations of the sketch In the 1971 film And Now For Something Completely Different , the sketch ends with the shopkeeper explaining that he always wanted to be a lumberjack and, ignoring Mr Praline's protests of that being irrelevant, subsequently begins singing " The Lumberjack Song ". The Monty Python Live at Drury Lane album features a live version of the sketch, which is slightly different from the TV version. Praline's rant about the deceased parrot includes "He fucking snuffed it!" Also, the sketch ends with the shopkeeper saying that he has a slug that does talk.

Cleese, after a brief pause, says, "Right, I'll have that one, then!" According to Michael Palin's published diary, Palin changed his response in order to throw Cleese off. During this performance something occurs on stage that does not translate into audio, but causes the audience to break into hysterics upon Cleese's follow-up line "Now that's what I call a dead parrot". The 1976 Monty Python Live at City Center performance ended with the slug lines, followed by: Shopkeeper: (long, long pause) ... Do you want to come back to my place? Mr Praline: I thought you'd never ask. On the Rhino Records ' compilation Dead Parrot Society, a live performance from The Secret Policeman's Ball in 1976 has Palin cracking up while Cleese declares "Pining for the fjords? What kind of talk is that?" The audience cheers this bit of breaking character , but Palin quickly composes himself and Cleese declares "Now, look! This is nothing to laugh at!" before proceeding with the sketch.

This version is included in the book and CD set The Best British Stand-Up and Comedy Routines, along with a transcript of the sketch and the Four Yorkshiremen sketch . In his appearance on The Muppet Show , Cleese appears as a pirate attempting to take over a spaceship during a "Pigs In Space" sketch. At the end of the sketch, he demands of the smart-mouthed talking parrot on his shoulder, "Do you want to be an ex-parrot?" In 1989's The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball , a benefit for Amnesty International , the sketch opens similarly, but ends very differently: Mr Praline: It's dead, that's what's wrong with it. Shopkeeper: So it is. 'Ere's your money back and a couple of holiday vouchers . (audience goes wild) Mr Praline: (looks completely flabbergasted) Well, you can't say Thatcher hasn't changed some things.

In a 1997 Saturday Night Live performance of the sketch, Cleese added a line to the rant: "Its metabolic processes are a matter of interest only to historians!" In an interview on NPR's Fresh Air , Palin attributed an almost dead audience to his seeing guests reverently mouthing the words of the sketch, rather than laughing at it. To end the sketch, Palin asked Cleese, "Do you want to come back to my place?" to which Cleese said, "I thought you'd never ask!" In his published diary, Michael Palin recalls that during the filming of Monty Python's Life of Brian in Tunisia , Spike Milligan (who happened to be there on holiday) regaled the Pythons with his own version of the Dead Parrot sketch, but changed "Norwegian Blue" to "Arctic Grey". In a 2002 interview with Michael Parkinson , John Cleese said that when he and Palin were performing the sketch on Drury Lane , Palin made him laugh by saying, when asked if his slug could talk, "It mutters a bit" instead of "Not really." When Cleese eventually stopped laughing, he couldn't remember where they were in the sketch.

He turned to the audience and asked them what the next line was, and people shouted it at him, causing him to wonder, "What is the point of this?" He also says that when he and Palin were asked to do the sketch for Saturday Night Live they sat down together to try to remember the lines, and when they got stuck they considered just going out and stopping somebody on the street to ask how it went, since everybody seemed to have it memorised. Margaret Thatcher famously used the sketch in a speech at the Conservative Party Conference in 1990, before ending the speech by commenting, " And now for something completely different ." [6] In 1998, The Sun ran the front-page headline "This party is no more...it has ceased to be...this is an EX-party" for an article about a Conservative Party conference. This turned out to be overly optimistic. Trey Parker and Matt Stone made a South Park version of the sketch depicting Cartman angrily returning a dead Kenny to Kyle 's shop. Most of the lines are the same in the original sketch. It ends when Terry Gilliam 's animations play around with Cartman and everything is crushed by the giant foot.

Cleese and Palin acted out the sketch during the Python's reunion in The O2 in July 2014, Monty Python Live (Mostly) . The sketch ended with the shopkeeper saying he has a selection of cheeses, transitioning into the Cheese Shop Sketch . The entire sketch ended like the City Centre performance, with the shopkeeper offering Mr Praline to come back to his place, and Mr Praline replying "I thought you'd never ask." In their final performance on July 20 (which was broadcast live to many theatres all over the world), whilst listing the metaphors for the parrot's death, Cleese added the line "it had expired and gone to meet Dr. Chapman " after which both Cleese and Palin did a thumbs-up to the sky. In the episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from November 13, 2015, John Cleese is a guest on the show.

At the end of the big furry hat segment (where Colbert and in this specific instance Cleese, create nonsensical rules), Cleese says, "Do you want to come back to my place?" and Stephen answers, "I thought you'd never ask." [7] Further uses At Graham Chapman 's memorial service, John Cleese began his eulogy by reprising euphemisms from the sketch. [8] In 1998 there was a follow up with their Live at Aspen, with the supposed ashes of Chapman. Midway through the interview, Terry Gilliam put his feet up on the table and knocked the urn off, spilling the ashes and prompting a frantic, slapstick attempt to clean him up with a dustpan and brush, and subsequently a dustbuster . In an anniversary concert Jasper Carrot had allowed his fans to pick the material. He opened the performance by announcing this then saying "I've had some funny requests somebody from Newark wanted me to do the dead parrot sketch". Precedents A joke dated c. CE 400, recently translated from Greek, shows similarities to the Parrot sketch.

It was written by Hierocles and Philagrius and was included in a compilation of 265 jokes titled Philogelos : The Laugh Addict. In the Greek version, a man complains to a slave-merchant that his new slave has died. The slave-merchant replies, "When he was with me, he never did any such thing!" [9] In Mark Twain 's humorous short story "A Nevada Funeral", two characters use a series of euphemisms for death including ' kicked the bucket ' and 'departed to that mysterious country from whose bourne no traveller returns'. [10] In 1959, Tony Hancock and Sid James performed a similar sketch involving a dead tortoise. [11] In the 1960s Freddie "Parrot Face" Davies included an obviously-stuffed caged parrot as part of his stage routine, occasionally complaining that he had been swindled by the seller. [12] References ^ Chapman, Graham; Cleese, John; Gilliam, Terry; Idle, Eric; Jones, Terry; Palin, Michael (1989). Wilmut, Roger, ed.

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus: All the Words, Volume One. New York, New York: Pantheon Books. p. 320 (Appendix). ISBN 0-679-72647-0 . Johnson, Kim "Howard" (1999). The First 28 0 Monty Python's dead parrot sketch voted favourite Python comedy routine of all time - Mirror Online TV Monty Python's dead parrot sketch voted favourite Python comedy routine of all time “That is an old sketch but it is still a good sketch and it is well written," Palin tells Mirror Share Michael Palin and John Cleese (Photo: Getty) Share Get celebs updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email The dead parrot sketch, which first aired 45 years ago and featured John Cleese and Michael Palin, has been voted the nation’s favourite Monty Python sketch of all time .

The survey of 2,000 British adults was commissioned to mark the screening of the very last Monty Python live show on TV channel Gold on July 20, asked respondents to select their top sketch from a long list of over 35 iconic scenes. The pet shop scene, which features Cleese as an exasperated customer trying to get his money back from Palin, who is a stubborn pet salesman, has been voted the most popular Python moment by 45% of respondents. It first was screened by the BBC on December 7 in 1969. Video Loading

Question: In the Monty Python TV sketch, what type of dead parrot did John Cleese return to the pet shop?
Answer: Norwegian Blue